Alright, got to restart the journal, been missing more than a week of entries due to diarrhea, not doing anything physical.

So I bought a book on TED, always loved TED presentations but the recent surge in SJW and climate related topics turned me off. Should still have kept it in mind and just avoided the topics I disliked.

On to the book, its about the power of storytelling. How it originated from stoneage when tribes of men gathered around campfire and shared tales of their hunt and harvest. Not sure if there were stoneage stand up, would love to hear a ludicrous tale of hunting mammoth and falling into a den of lions and coming out on top.

I believe that this is true as well, as Scott Adams often say, truth doesn’t matter, only persuasion. Within story telling, if you can embody strong emotional cues and personal experience that people can relate to, then you possess the power to convince, to persuade. Your white paper quotes and statistics are just fillers for powerpoint.

I had also met with an old friend (LS). His story of hardship reached me personally. Even if I don’t own much, I have near zero debt and possess the ability to pay my monthly bill for quite a while. Oftentimes we are always comparing ourselves with people that are better off. If this generates energy for you then great, if not, then these thoughts are not necessary.

I have also given much thought on what sort of brand do I want to embody. When friends gathered together, the common topics would be; who was doing well; who moved into a swanky place or got a sweet car. When hikers gathered, it would most probably be who did some really badass trip. Consciously knowing this difference is important. This is a threshold where you are able to define yourself. Do you want to be remembered as someone who owned some million dollar estate or do you want to be remembered as someone who did some really difficult hike and had a great story to share? Of course, having both is awesome, but what would you choose if you can have only one. That would be the brand you choose to embody.

I will be meeting some good ex colleague and friend from NEC time, perhaps I can test my idea on them.